Japan achieves first industrial-scale production of renewable plastics from 100% bio-based hydrocarbons

Neste, Mitsui Chemicals Corporation and Toyota Tsusho Corporation announced that they will join forces to achieve Japan's first industrial-scale production of renewable plastics and chemicals from 100% bio-based hydrocarbons, according to a Neste press release
.

In this collaboration, Mitsui Chemicals will use Neste RE, a 100% bio-based hydrocarbon produced by Neste, to replace some of the fossil feedstock at the cracking plant at its Osaka plant during 2021 to produce various plastics and chemicals
.
In doing so, Mitsui Chemicals will be the first company in Japan to use bio-based feedstocks in its cracking plant
.
The partnership between Neste, Mitsui Chemicals and Toyota Tsusho will enable brand owners and other potential customers in the Asian market, especially in Japan, to start incorporating renewable plastics and chemicals into their products and services
.

In this collaboration, as a pioneer in the production of renewable and recycled feedstock alternatives for the plastics and chemicals industries, Neste will produce Neste RE feedstocks entirely from renewable feedstocks, such as bio-based waste and resid, without using any petrochemicals
.
By using Neste RE, Mitsui Chemicals is able to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions during the production of plastics and chemicals and during the product life cycle, from the raw material stage all the way to product disposal
.

Introducing Neste-produced bio-based hydrocarbons as feedstock in the cracker will allow Mitsui Chemicals to produce renewable ethylene, propylene, C4 fractions and benzene, etc.
, and process them into phenol, etc.
, without compromising quality Basic chemicals or plastics such as polyethylene and polypropylene
.

Mitsui Chemicals and Toyota Tsusho intend to obtain the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC), which is widely accepted in Europe as a certification system for bio-based raw material products
.
ISCC Plus certification based on mass balance is designed to drive the adoption of renewable ingredients
.

Akio Hirao, CEO, Corporate Sustainability, Mitsui Chemicals, said: "Mitsui Chemicals aims to be carbon neutral by 2050 and wants to help achieve a circular economy by promoting the two pillars of recycling and using biological alternatives.

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Converting fossil feedstocks to biological feedstocks will help combat global warming, an important strategic priority to drive carbon neutrality by 2050, and Mitsui Chemicals will not only focus on developing high-quality biological feedstocks and process materials, There will also be collaboration with stakeholders to make biomass widely available in society
.
"